1 In what year was "The Lynching" first published? 1919 1920 1921 1917 2 How can we best describe the function of the poem's form? As a critique of America's perverse love of lynching As a plea asking God to intervene As a prayer for the victim of the lynching As a report on the specifics of a particular case 3 What Christian concept does the phrase "awful sin" refer to? Venial sin Original sin Divine intervention Eternal sin 4 What color are the women's "steely" eyes in line 12? The poem does not say Brown Green Blue 5 What word does McKay rather surprisingly not capitalize? Father Spirit Fate Day 6 What is the name of the 1922 collection of McKay's poetry that includes "The Lynching"? Home to Harlem The Weary Blues Harlem Shadows Songs of Protest 7 What do the children do in the poem's final line? Run Away Stare Cry Dance 8 What details does the poem tell us about the victim? The poem does not tell us any details The poem tells us his profession The poem tells us his age The poem tells us where he is from 9 How many similes and metaphors does McKay use in the poem? Two Four None Six 10 What feature of the "Shakespearean" sonnet form does the poem employ? An ABAB rhyme scheme in stanza 1 A division into octave and sestet An EFEF rhyme scheme in stanza 3 A final rhyming couplet 11 What verb does the poem use to describe the women coming to look at the body? Thronged Crowded Filed Gathered 12 What consonant sound is repeated several times in the opening line? "B" sound "S" sound "T" sound "N" sound 13 Where are the religious terms located in the poem? All in the end All in the beginning Only at the beginning and the end Dispersed throughout the poem 14 What is the poetic term for the ABBA, CDDC, and EFFE stanzas that the poem employs? Petrarchan stanzas Folded stanzas Envelope stanzas Mirror stanzas 15 Which of the following words does McKay NOT use to refer to the victim? Thing Corpse Char Body 16 What notable formal feature is only used in the poem's third quatrain? Personification Caesura Apostrophe Enjambment 17 Which of the following poets also wrote a poem entitled "The Lynching"? Dorothea Mathews Anne Spencer Countee Cullen Langston Hughes 18 What syntactical element—typically common in McKay's poetry—is NOT present in "The Lynching"? Semicolons Conjunctions Parentheses Exclamation points 19 How does the speaker describe the crowds in line 9? Large Steely White Mixed 20 What famous star does McKay allude to in the second stanza? The Star of David Halley's Comet The Dog Star The North Star 21 What does Dorothea Mathew's "The Lynching" have in common with McKay's poem? An emphasis on the interiority of the victim A description of stars above the scene A neutral description of the lynch mob References to animals 22 What does the "bright and solitary star" ultimately do to the victim? It commemorates him It guides him It gives him up It comforts him 23 Which of the following is NOT a central theme of the poem? The dehumanization and objectification of black bodies Forgiveness of sin The continuity of racial violence The incomparable horrors of lynching 24 Which of the following characteristics does "The Lynching" share with McKay's "America"? Its conception of masculinity Its sense that America's empire will fall Its radical use of the sonnet form Its heavy reliance on figurative language 25 What does "The Lynching" have in common with "If We Must Die"? A classical conception of heroism A trenchant critique of racialized violence An idealized notion of masculinity Explicit comparisons to inhuman predators and monsters
